01/Industry — Ecommerce
Online stores for Costa Rica — Shopify or custom
Payments with SINPE Móvil + BAC + Stripe, Hacienda integration, and multi-warehouse — without paying absurd platform commissions.
If you sell fewer than 100 products and process fewer than 1,000 orders/mo, Shopify with a custom theme is the fastest and cheapest path (USD 1,500–3,500 + USD 39+/mo license). If your business has special rules — B2B with negotiated prices, configurable products, multi-warehouse stock, volume discounts, local bank integrations — Shopify falls short and you need custom. We help you decide before quoting.
02/Pricing — feature breakdown
Pricing — feature breakdown
Total in USD. We bill per deliverable, not per hour — you know the total before signing.
| Solution | USD range |
|---|---|
Shopify with custom theme Plus USD 39+/mo Shopify license | USD 1,500 – 3,500 |
Custom Next.js + Stripe store | USD 5,000 – 8,000 |
+ SINPE Móvil + BAC Credomatic | + USD 1,500 – 2,500 |
+ Multi-warehouse stock | + USD 1,500 – 3,000 |
+ Auto e-invoicing on each sale | + USD 2,500 – 4,500 |
Marketplace (multiple vendors) Auto commissions, payouts, dispute management | USD 12,000 – 20,000 |
03/Real case
B2B beauty products distributor: custom Next.js store with 800-SKU catalog, per-client negotiated pricing, SINPE Móvil + BAC, automatic e-invoicing. USD 8,600, 12 weeks. Replaced their previous WooCommerce + Excel; B2B orders grew from 18 to 47 per week because clients could order 24/7 without calling sales.
04/Calculator
Calculate how much you save moving from Shopify to custom
Shopify charges USD 39+/mo + 2% per sale. Custom has no monthly fee or per-sale commission.
Conservative calculation based on real cases we have delivered. Your exact range depends on scope — use the quote builder for precision.
05/What is included
What is included
- Catalog with filters, typo-tolerant search, sorting
- Persistent cart and single-page checkout
- Payments: Stripe (international), BAC + BN, SINPE Móvil
- Shipping calculated by weight, product type, or destination
- Coupons, volume discounts, and per-segment pricing
- Transactional email (order confirmed, en route, delivered)
- Admin panel with metrics (sales, top products, cart abandonment)
06/Typical stack
Typical stack
- Next.js 16 + React 19 with App Router and RSC
- PostgreSQL on Supabase or Neon
- Stripe + local bank integrations
- Cloudflare R2 for product images
- Algolia or Typesense for typo-tolerant search
- Resend for transactional email
07/Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions
When does Shopify make sense vs custom?▾
Shopify if: < 100 products, < 1,000 orders/mo, no complex B2B rules, no local bank integrations needed. Custom if: large catalog (> 500 SKUs), per-client negotiated prices, multi-warehouse stock, volume discounts, integration with your ERP/internal system, or you want to avoid Shopify’s ~2% per-sale commission on top of the USD 39/mo.
Can I accept SINPE Móvil in my store?▾
Yes. There are 2–3 providers in CR offering SINPE Móvil API for web (integrations at USD 800–1,500 + low monthly fee). The upside: no transaction commission. The downside: the customer must confirm the SINPE in their bank — friction that reduces conversion ~15% vs card. We recommend it as a secondary, not sole, option.
How much does adding e-invoicing raise the cost?▾
USD 2,500 – 4,500 depending on complexity. If you only sell to end consumers and volume is < 100 orders/day, the simple integration (USD 2,500) is enough. If you sell B2B with credit notes, exemptions, and automatic retries when Hacienda errors out, the robust module (USD 4,500) pays for itself in 2–3 months in hours saved by your accountant.
What if I want to migrate from Shopify to custom later?▾
We migrate from Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, or any platform. The migration preserves URLs (to avoid SEO loss), order history, customers, and products. We quote migration separately (USD 1,500–3,500 depending on catalog size). Clients often start on Shopify to validate and migrate to custom when it justifies the cost.
How long does launching a store take?▾
Shopify with custom theme: 3–5 weeks. Custom Next.js: 8–12 weeks. With e-invoicing: 12–16. The difference isn’t just dev: on Shopify we reuse what already exists; on custom we build everything bespoke (more control, more time). If your deadline is aggressive, Shopify wins.
How much does a marketplace with multiple vendors cost?▾
USD 12,000–20,000 depending on features. Includes vendor onboarding, automatic per-sale commissions, payouts (automated transfers to vendors), dispute management, and per-vendor revenue dashboards. It is 2–3x more expensive than a single-vendor ecommerce because the commission and payout logic is complex. Only worth it if you already have committed vendors or capital to acquire them.
08/Use the quote builder
Want the exact range for your case?
4 questions, 30 seconds. We give you the USD range + a ready WhatsApp with your scope pre-filled.